Marshmallows
by The Italian Peach
Summary: [TATE, Oneshot] In which Tony decides that Kate smells like marshmallows.


This was originally supposed to be a drabble, but it kinda got out of control. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I really owned Navy NCIS, Kate would not be dead and she and Tony would probably be married by now.

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"Hey Kate, want a marshmallow?"

I looked up. Tony stood in front of me, waving a bag of white and pink marshmallows in my face.

"Why would I want a marshmallow? Do you have any idea how fattening they are?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, but they taste pretty good." He opened the bag and placed a big pink marshmallow on my desk. "Have one."

I scoffed and threw it at him. "No."

He pouted, sticking his lower lip out. "Please?"

Damn my weakness for that pout. "Fine."

Tony gave me two, one white and one pink. He went back to his desk and started stuffing marshmallows down his throat, hardly bothering to chew them. It was kind of disgusting to watch.

I picked up the white marshmallow and bit it in half, savoring its sweetness. How long had it been since I'd eaten one of these?

Tony paused in his mad marshmallow rampage and watched me. "You know, you can tell a lot about how a person treats relationships by how they eat marshmallows."

I popped the second half of the marshmallow in my mouth. "Really?" I said around it. "How so?"

He reached into the bag and pulled out a pink one. "Some people," he started, "like to take apart the marshmallow and eat it bit by bit." As he said this, he ripped a small chunk of marshmallow from the main body and ate it. "They like analyzing the relationship and taking it slowly."

I nodded. It made sense.

"And when the relationship's over, they have sticky fingers to remember it by. They can lick off the last bits of sugary goodness before saying goodbye. It makes the whole breaking up process easier." Tony licked his fingers before taking another marshmallow out.

"Others try as hard as they can to make a relationship last its longest possible time. These people suck on the marshmallows and never take a bite. They let the marshmallow dissolve slowly, unwilling to let it disappear." He grimaced. "I once dated a girl like that. She actually clung to my leg when I broke up with her."

I laughed, picturing the scene in my head. "Back to the marshmallows DiNozzo."

Tony smirked. "Right. The third group of people are people like me. I eat marshmallows whole, savor their taste, and swallow. Then I start again with a new one."

"And you do the same to girls." I interrupted. "You take them for sex, leave them, and take another one. It's a cycle. Dammit, I wouldn't be surprised you are actually the father of a bunch of illegitimate children."

Tony rolled his eyes. "I do use protection Kate."

"Ever heard of condoms breaking?"

"Just shut up. Anyways, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, people like me go through members of the opposite sex looking for that one Mr. or Mrs. Right."

"You make being a skirt-chaser sound much more classy. And I suppose you go looking for that one right marshmallow?"

Tony ignored me. "The people in the last class of marshmallow eaters are the people who bite the marshmallows in half or thirds or fourths." He paused and looked at me while biting a marshmallow in half like I'd done with the first white one. "People like you, Kate."

I stopped chewing the last pink marshmallow as he continued.

"You know that the relationship isn't going to last. But that doesn't stop you from enjoying your self. You might be reluctant to start it, but once you've taken that first bite, you're hooked."

It was pretty amazing. That was exactly how I felt about all my relationships.

Tony stood up and walked to my desk. "Want another one?" he asked, holding out the marshmallows.

A tiny bit of my brain screamed at me while I took a handful. "Thanks," I said.

He kneeled so that our eyes were level and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my eyes. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest.

"You smell like marshmallows," he said, and totally ruined the moment. I pushed my chair away from him and swiveled to face my computer.

"If you're brain's working properly, you'll remember that I just ate some."

Tony stood and walked around the desk to face me again. "It was a compliment."

I stared at him. "You think telling a girl that they smell like marshmallows is a compliment?"

He shrugged. "It kinda turns me on."

My fingers stopped typing. "You find _marshmallows_ erotic?"

"Not marshmallows in particular. Just their smell." He turned to walk back to his desk.

I followed him. "Let me get this straight. You find the _smell_ of marshmallows erotic?"

Tony suddenly stopped walking and swung around, scaring the crap out of me. He grabbed my hands and leaned in. "Sometimes," he whispered in my ear. And then he kissed me. I was too surprised to resist.

When he pulled away, he licked his lips and smiled. "You taste like marshmallows too. Yummy."

I swear, one day, I'm going to have to apologize to Gibbs for strangling Tony DiNozzo with my bare hands.

**Fin**

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You know what you have to do. So pretty please review! Ha…that kind of rhymes. 


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